Review of Affliction (1998) by Chris G — 22 Feb 2009

When you dig into Affliction you feel like you're getting into a low rent Fargo. A man accidentally dies on a hunting expedition and bumpkin cop Wade Whitehouse (Nick Nolte) soon suspects foul play involving his friend, his boss, and the dead mans son in law.

Affliction is much more than that. The crime is just the MacGuffin to lead us to the real meat of the film which is Wade's downward spiral. Wade is divorced and his daughter will have nothing to do with him. He tries hard to have a relationship, sometimes too hard, but the spirit of his father is still etched into him and continues to carve away little pieces of his life. Wade's father Glen (James Coburn in an Oscar winning role) is your typical drunk and abusive father. You've seen it in several other movies. It's Coburn that makes the character more than that. His drunk isn't loud and brash all the time. He simmers. He knows what to say to get a rise. He's evil, yet he's the patriarch.

Along with Nolte and Coburn you have Sissy Spacek as Wade's fiance and Willem Dafoe playing the other, more down to earth son who's almost too down to earth. he narrates the tale. It's a great cast of talented actors.

Paul Schrader, best known for writing Scorsese's classic films Taxi driver, raging Bull, and The Last Temptation of Christ directs and adapts the novel by Russell Banks. When you get right down to it Wade Whithouse could be Travis Bickle if he stayed at home and got small municipal jobs in his podunk hometown. Schrader isn't crazy with the camera, but he's still able to show that even though they hate each other father and son still hold a bond between one another. This film is probably Schrader's best work as a director.

Affliction could have easily been a Lifetime movie, but Scharader and his cast of actor turn it into a tour de force that represents the best of their talents. A little dull at a few points it is still a fine film and necessary when seeing how to cap off a great career.